Senior citizens, get ready for a foot-tapping, mouthwatering, friend-filled good time.

The Minot Area Senior Coalition presents the 19th annual Salute to Seniors, “A Salute to Classic T.V.,” held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. An event held to honor and show appreciation to seniors, Salute to Seniors is a day filled with entertainment, a variety of music, food, vendors, an informative speaker, door prizes and a lot of coffee and snacks. Tickets are $15 and include everything listed above.

“There are not a whole lot of events for seniors here,” said Kayla Lawson, fourth-year president of the Minot Area Senior Coalition. “We wanted to create a day where seniors can come and have a hot lunch, see old friends and meet new friends; a day where they don’t have to worry about cooking and cleaning, they can just come and have fun.”

The Minot Area Senior Coalition is a group of 15 professionals from assisted living homes, retirement homes, nursing homes and businesses that offer assistance to senior citizens. The primary purpose of the group is to provide entertaining and educational events for seniors in Minot.

Other events that the Minot Area Senior Coalition offers throughout the year are the Harvest Ball, Coping and Caring, and Lunch & Learn, which is a free event that takes place three or four times a year to educate seniors on important and relevant information. Lawson said Salute to Seniors is their biggest event of the year.

This year’s main entertainment at Salute to Seniors is Lynn Roberts, a celebrity impersonator and musician from Arizona who started performing professionally when he was just 14 years old. Having performed in Europe, Canada and all over the U.S., Roberts impersonates Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Red Skelton and Jimmy Durante.

“We talked to a lot of different talent agencies and we heard he was a really good entertainer,” said Lawson. “We thought he was a talent that the senior citizens would really enjoy.”

The music group Java Jive Jazz will also be performing, joined by singer Terri Aldrich from the Minot Council of the Arts. The Sawyer High School Band and Wellington Choir will be performing during the day as well, as well as “Salute to T.V. Land,” a special skit.

“We try to make sure there is a variety of entertainment,” said Lawson.

In the past, Salute to Seniors has had the entertainment of Arthur Duncan, singer and tap dancer, as well as local music groups and singers, barbershop quartets, other local celebrities and more.

The Minot Area Senior Coalition is pleased to welcome the speaker of the event this year, Terry Eckmann, physical education coordinator for Minot State University. She will be speaking on excercises for senior citizens and educating about staying healthy.

On top of the information Eckmann will be sharing, Salute to Seniors is a great opportunity for seniors to learn more about a variety of valuable information. Around 40 vendors will be at the event, with information on everything from nursing homes and assisted living to physical education to beneficial resources. Lawson said First District Health Unit will even be giving pneumonia shots to seniors who haven’t received one yet.

For those who enjoy pictures and a whole lot of laughter, the Minot Camera Club will have a photo booth available at the event with fun props to pose with. Each person who participates will get to take a photo home as a souvineer.

There will also be many door prizes given away, including tickets to the Norsk Hostfest, Salute to Seniors 2016, the Harvest Ball, a grill, gift baskets, gift certificates and more.

“We’ll be giving away a lot of smaller prizes throughout the day and then the drawings for the big prizes will be at 2:45,” said Lawson. “There are a lot of different prizes and we’re excited about it.”

Lawson said many of the vendors generally bring door prizes as well.

The Minot Area Senior Coalition is especially grateful to the sponsors of this year’s Salute to Seniors, including KMOT-TV, Racers Convenience Store, West Dakota Fox News, Job Corps, Northwest Projector, Thomas Family Funeral Home, Pepsi, Somerset Court, Thrifty White Pharmacy, Century 21, Trinity Health and Homesteaders, who cater the lunch at the event including ham, meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, coleslaw, bun and a scotcharoo.

Salute to Seniors was also supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In addition, members of the Minot Area Senior Coalition will be at the event throughout the entire day, as well as setting up and cleaning up before and afterward.

“They’re just a group of really caring people that go above and beyond to make these seniors feel special,” said Lawson.

The deadline to buy tickets is today, and seniors should R.S.V.P. by calling 852-3398. They can send the names of attendees and ticket amount to the Minot Senior Coalition, P.O. Box 326, by the deadline or they can pay at the door. Lawson said that if the deadline passes, seniors can call the number above to see if space is still available.

Around 400 people generally attend Salute to Seniors each year, and Lawson is excited to see the outcome of this year’s event and also for what next year’s 20th annual Salute to Seniors has in store.

“We love to honor seniors by giving them things to do and just showing that they’re appreciated,” said Lawson. “This day is all about them.”